Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Baytex Energy Corp. (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$6.18.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BTE shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from C$5.25 to C$7.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$6.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$5.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Baytex Energy from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from C$5.50 to C$7.00 in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised their price objective on shares of Baytex Energy from C$5.00 to C$5.75 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th.

Insider Transactions at Baytex Energy

In other news, insider James Robert Maclean purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$5.73 per share, with a total value of C$57,300.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 185,322 shares in the company, valued at C$1,061,895.06. This trade represents a 5.70% increase in their position. Also, insider Chad Lundberg acquired 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$6.15 per share, for a total transaction of C$67,650.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 613,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$3,772,416.15. This represents a 1.83% increase in their position. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 49,800 shares of company stock valued at $293,188. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Baytex Energy Stock Up 3.2%

BTE opened at C$5.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94, a current ratio of 3.61 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Baytex Energy has a 12 month low of C$2.00 and a 12 month high of C$6.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is C$5.50 and its 200 day moving average price is C$4.62. The stock has a market cap of C$4.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 0.42.

Baytex Energy (TSE:BTE) (NYSE:BTE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported C($1.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Baytex Energy had a negative return on equity of 16.25% and a negative net margin of 40.77%. As a group, research analysts predict that Baytex Energy will post 0.3703367 earnings per share for the current year.

Baytex Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.0225 per share. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Baytex Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -11.54%.

About Baytex Energy

Baytex Energy Corp is an oil and gas company. Geographically, the group operates in Canada and the United States. The company derives a majority of revenue from Canada. Its Canada segment includes the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas in Western Canada.